Backfill tamper



Jan. 5, 1954 w, BROWN Re. 23,763

BACKFILL. TAMPER Original Filed March 11, 1950 John W. Bro wn IN VENTOR.

BY WW 8m Reissued Jan. 5, 1954 BACKFILL TAMPER John W. Brown, Westport,Conn., assignor to Gunderson-Taylor Machinery Company, Denver, (3010., acorporation of Colorado Original No. 2,551,925, datedMay 8, 1951, SerialNo. 149,134, March 11, 1950. Application for reissue May 7, 1953, SerialNo. 353,706

Matter enclosed in heavy brackets 1 appears in the original patent butforms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italicsindicates the additions made by reissue.

12 Claims.

This invention relates to improvement in tamping devices of the typeusually referred to as bachfill tampers.

In construction jobs where dirt has been disturbed and must be replaced,as for example, when pipes have been laid in trenches, the soil whenreplaced must be carefull tamped, from the bottom up, as the trenchesare filled. There are also many other places where tamping is necessary.

There are on the market today several Incchanical tampers, some of whichare operated by compressed air. Such tampers are so constructed that oneman can operate a single tamper only. Where large areas are to betamped, the services of many men are required in order to expedite thejob.

It is the object of this invention to produce a holder to which severalpneumatic tampers may be attached, preferably three, and of suchconstruction and design that one man can operate an assembly of threetampers and thereby accomplish three times as much work in a unit oftime as he could operating a single tamper.

Another object is to produce a holder of such constructi n that itprovides an air reservoir with which all of the tempers communicate andwhich assures a uniform air supply and pressure to all of the tempers,thereby assuring optimum operation of all the tampers.

A further object is to produce a holder for pneumatic tamping devices ofsuch a construction. and design that a plurality of tamping devices canbe readily attached thereto and/or removed therefrom.

A still further) important object is to provide for mounting a pluralityof pneumatic tamping devices thereon in a. readily detachable manner andwherein conventional tampiug devices of dz'fierent sizes may besupported as desired.

The above and many other objects that may become apparent as thedescription proceed are attained by means of a construction andarrangement of parts that will now be described in detail, for whichpurpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which theinvention is illustrated, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the in vention fully assembledand the manner in which it is employed;

Figure 2 is a plan View looking downwardly through plane 22, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section taken on line 3-3, Figure 2;

Figure 4' is a side elevation, partly broken away,

k as indicated at [11124.

with the tampers removed, looking in the'direction of arrow 4 Figure 1;and

Figure 5 is a section taken on line 5--5, Figure 4.

Referring now to the drawing, reference numeral 'IE designates awell-known type of pneumatic backfill tamper which forms no part of theinvention except to the extent that it is an element in the combinationcomprising the holding device.

The tamper holder which forms the subject of this invention comprises acombined tamper holder and surge preventing reservoir provided withmeans for removable attaching the tampers thereto. Reference numeral 5;!I 1 12 represents a cylindrical reservoir having a bottom [12] 14provided with a drain cock E13] 16. Attached to the upperopen end'of thereservoir is a hollow top of substantially triangular shape (the shapemay be rectangular or even round). The too is formed from two steelplates ljl ijl 18 and [I5] .20. Plate [l4] 1-8 has a central opening[16] 22 of the proper-size to receive the upper end of the reservoir towhich it is secured bv welding Plates [!3] 18 and [M120 are of the samesize and shape and are held in spaced relation by pipes {I81 26 and[18a] 28 to which their edges are secured by welding as shown in Figure3. Pipes [i8] 26' are provided with openings 5:591 30, see Figure 3, toprovide communicatio between the interiors of the pipes and'thereservoir.

Pipe [[8] 26 extend beyond pipe [18a] 28 and one is provided with avalve [20] 32 which is connected with a-suitable source of compressedair by a hose E21] 34;. the other pipe [It] 26 terminates in a handle[22] 36 and its end is closed by a suitable cap (not shown).

In the triangular design shown, pipe nipples [23] 38 are wel'dedto thebottom plate {it} 18 and are in communication with the interior of thehollow top. Bottom [in 14 is formed from a plate of the shape shown inFigure 5 and has three lateral projections, the outer ends of whichterminate in concave portions [24] 40. Bolts [26] 42 are welded to theplate, one at each end of each concave recess [2%] 40. A bowed clampE25] 44 is attached to each pair of bolts and is held in adjustedposition by means of nuts [26] 46.

The tamping devices are provided at their upper ends with threadedopenings for the reception of the pipe nipples to which they arethreaded and are held in place by the bowed clamps [1251 44, all asshown in Figure 1.

In operation the assembly is grasped as shown in Figure 1, and when thevalve is opened air enters the reservoir through openings [I9] 30. Airfrom the reservoir flows to the tampers through nipples [23] 38 and thetampers begin functioning. Since the tempers usually vary as to theirexact rate of reciprocation their tamping strokes are staggered.

The device can be moved over the surface and since each assembly hasthree tampers, one man can do three times as much work per unit of time.Although three tampers have been found to be satisfactory, it is evidentthat a greater or a lesser number may be used if desired.

From the above it will be apparent that the holder that forms thesubject of this invention is so constructed that pneumatic tamners nowmade in various sizes and marketed by others can be assembled into amultiple unit [which] and due to the reservoir positioned adjacent thetampers, the reserve air supply thus provided assures uniform operation.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new is:

1. A. holding device for a plurality of pneumatic tamping devicescomprising a central airtight vessel forming a reservoir for compressedair, a plurality of clamps carried by the vessel for attaching theretoan eaual number of tampers, means comprising a tubular membercommunicating the interior of the vessel with each tamper, a tubular airsupply pipe in communication with the vessel, an air flow control valvein the pipe, and handle means for guiding the assembly.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which the vessel has a topcomprising two spaced plates of extended area sealed about their edges,the vessel being in communication with the space between said plates,the lower plate having tubular nipples attached thereto, incommunication with the space between the plates, and in which the clampsare of the two-part bolt operated type.

3. A device in accordance with claim l in which the vessel is anelongated cylinder whose lower end is closed by means of a plate havinga plurality of two-part bolt operated clamps and in which the top of thecylinder is closed by a cover comprising two spaced metal plates ofextended area sealed about their edges forming an airtight chambercommunicating with the vessel through an opening in the lower plate, thetubular members communicating with the chamber between the plates.

4. A holder for a pneumatic tamping device comprising an airtight vesselforming a reservoir for compressed air, la pair of projections extendinglaterally and horizontally from the side of said vessel and each havinga seat spaced laterally and horizontally from said vessel, meanscooperating with said seats for securing a pneumatic tamper to saidprojection against lateral horizontal movement relative thereto, meansincluding a tubular member communicating the interior of the vessel withsaid tamper, means for supplying compressed air to said tamper, controlmeans for said last mentioned means.

5. The combination of claim 4 including a handle attached to saidcommunicating means, said handle constituting part of said compressedair supplying means.

6. A holder for a pneumatic tamping device comprising an airtight vesselforming a reservoir for compressed air, a projection extending laterallyfrom the side of said vessel and having a seat, means cooperating withsaid; seat 191 G tering a pneumatic tamper with respect to said seat andengaging a tamper for preventing lateral movement of the tamper relativeto said seat, means including a tubular member communicating theinterior of the vessel with said tamper,

- means for supplying compvessed air to said tamper, control means forsaid last mentioned means, said vessel having top and bottom closuremembers each extending laterally thereof, said projection being mountedupon said bottom closure member, said tubular member being dependinglymounted upon said top closure member whereby said tamper may have itsupper end connected to and supported by said tubular member andintermediate its ends may be secured by said means cooperating with saidseat.

7. A holder for a pneumatic tamping device comprising an elongatedsubstantially vertical centrally disposed portable and freely movablebody comprising a reservoir supplying air to a plurality of tampers,upper and lower membens secured to the upper and lower ends of said bodyand extending laterally and horizontally therefrom, a plurality ofclamps mounted upon and extending laterally and horizontally from saidlower member, a plurality of pneumatic tampers each secured to said bodyby one of said clamps, elements upon the laterally projecting portionsof the upper member attached to said tampers in communication with thereservoir and supplying a r to said tumpers.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said elements [are attached to andone disposed vertically above the upper ends of said tampers.

9, The combination of claim 7 wherein said elements are attached to theupper ends of said tampcrs and said clamps embvace said tampersintermediate their ends.

vl0. The combination of claim 7 including a handle secured to anddisposed [about the periphcry of said upper member.

11. A holder for a pneumatic tamping device comprising an air tightvessel forming a pes ervoir for compressed air, a plurality of pairs ofprojections extending laterally and horizontally from the side of saidvessel and each having a seat spaced laterally and horizontally fromsaid vessel, means cooperating with each pair of seats for securing apneumatic tamper to each pair of projections against horizontal lateralmovement relative thereto, means including a plurality of tubularmembers communicating the interior of the vessel with said tampers,means for supplying compressed air to said tampers, control means forsaid last mentioned means.

12. The combination of claim 4 including means for venting the lowerportion of said vessel to the atmosphere.

JOHN W. BROWN.

References Cited in the file of this patent or the original [patentUNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 567,725 .Rinsche Sept. 15, 1896604,480 Rhodes May 24, 1898 659,418 Pickles Oct. 9, 1900 707,920Haeseler Aug. 26, 1902 1,585,740 Saulia May 25, 1926 2,136,315 PettitNov. 8, 1938 2,497,682 Mertz Feb. 14, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 10,467 Germany Aug. 19, 1924

